After Kim Mordue lost her son, she decided to carry him with her forever in her heart ... and in her tattoos:

Three years ago, Kim Mordue lost her son Lloyd to a fatal run in with the party drug GHB. Kim’s husband runs a tattoo parlor, and together they’ve found a way to deal with her grief with ink. Lloyd’s ashes have been mixed with tattoo ink, and used to give Kim a new tat. When asked about the tattoo, she had the following to say:

As soon as I knew it was possible, I wanted to have the ashes tattoos as a tribute to him. Now, he’ll be with me for the rest of my life.

http://inkarttattoos.com/tattoo-blog/mother-tattooed-with-dead-sons-ashes/ | Story by Richard Smith at Mirror

This is the third time I have heard of this kind of tattoo. My personal feelings on this are that its a beautiful and unique way to remember our dead. What do we do with our dead now, toss em in the ground and cover em up. Bleh so standard and so cut and paste. Your dead loved ones still get to travel in a sense with this at least...

Sadly, it is not a snap judgment on my part. Of course it's an extremely terrible thing to have happen. I have seen it before. I know a woman who is so emotionally crippled by the death of her son that she is unable to let go. She cannot deal with the death of her pets. When she moves, she digs them (and their little grave markers) up out of the back yard and takes them with her. She tries to keep his old car running, even though it's falling apart, and repair costs are ruinous. She can't let go of the grief.

A tattoo in memory of your child? Sounds fine. A tattoo with your child's ashes? Raises a few eyebrows. She doesn't need to let go of the memory, but if she's not careful, she will be consumed by her grief.

ted: What a rotten thing to say. Why should she "learn to let go"? Have you lost a child? Do you, in your infinite wisdom, know this woman's entire story so that you're qualified to pass judgment on her?

You're the one who should learn to let go. Of your shortsighted snap judgments.